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The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has said pharmacies in England are owed millions of pounds in compensation because a “fundamentally flawed” Covid vaccine booking system forced them to divert resources to deal with patients who were not eligible to receive a vaccination.

An NPA survey of 450 pharmacies carried between October 17 and 24 last year found half of an average pharmacy’s Covid vaccine bookings were made by patients who were ineligible for a vaccine after the Government changed the criteria.

Patients aged 65 to 75 as well as people in clinical risk groups, such as those with diabetes or heart disease, were no longer eligible for a Covid booster from October 1 unless they were immunosuppressed. However, the NPA said they were still able to book vaccines through the booking system.

It said its estimates showed pharmacies could be owed at least £2 million a day in costs, including wasted staff time and the cost of vaccination supply. The NPA called on Labour to “provide millions of pounds in compensation to pharmacies who had staff time wasted and resources diverted to manage this problem”.

Pharmacies reported patients spitting or pushing staff

The NPA also said nine in 10 pharmacies reported suffering verbal or physical intimidation from patients who were ineligible for a Covid vaccine.

Pharmacies, who reported patients spitting or pushing staff, accused NHS England of failing to communicate with them over why problems with the booking system were not rectified and why the eligibility criteria was changed.

NPA chief executive Henry Gregg said it “was a problem of the NHS’s own making that should have been avoided”.

“Our data shows this has come at a significant personal and financial cost to community pharmacies across the country,” he said.

“It is particularly concerning to hear reports of physical intimidation from a minority of frustrated patients. It is disgusting to learn of pharmacists being spat at by disgruntled individuals and any physical intimidation or abuse is utterly unacceptable.”

Gregg said although the financial cost to pharmacies can largely be quantified, the damage to their reputations caused by problems with the booking system and impact of abuse cannot be measured.

“The NHS must learn the lessons from this issue for future years,” he said. “This includes doing the right thing and compensating pharmacies for losses made during this process.

“Pharmacies remain massively important to efforts to protect millions of patients from serious illness.”

An NHS England spokesperson told Independent Community Pharmacist: “Abuse against healthcare staff is never acceptable and colleagues deserve to be treated with respect.

“Eligibility for the Covid-19 vaccine changed last year following updated guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation – and we updated information on the NHS website to make people aware of the changes as well as contacting key groups affected.”